Hell on Wheels (TV series)

Hell on Wheels
Genre	Western Period drama
Created by	Joe Gayton Tony Gayton
Showrunners	Joe Gayton Tony Gayton John Wirth
Starring	Anson Mount Colm Meaney Common Dominique McElligott Tom Noonan Eddie Spears Ben Esler Phil Burke Christopher Heyerdahl Robin McLeavy Kasha Kropinski Dohn Norwood Jennifer Ferrin MacKenzie Porter Jake Weber Tim Guinee Byron Mann Reg Rogers Angela Zhou Chelah Horsdal
Theme music composer	Gustavo Santaolalla
Composer	Kevin Kiner
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	57 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Jeremy Gold Joe Gayton Tony Gayton David Von Ancken John Wirth Michael Rosenberg Paul Kurta Chad Oakes Michael Frislev
Producers	Peter Chomsky Thomas Brady Anson Mount
Production locations	Calgary, Alberta, Canada[1]
Cinematography	Elliot Davis (pilot) Marvin V. Rush Thomas Burstyn
Running time	40-50 minutes
Production companies	Entertainment One Television Nomadic Pictures (Gayton)2 Endemol USA Wirthwhile TV AMC Studios
Original release
Network	AMC
Release	November 6, 2011 (2011-11-06) – July 23, 2016 (2016-07-23)
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Hell on Wheels is an American Western television series about the construction of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States, which broadcast in the United States and Canada on the cable channel AMC, from November 6, 2011^[2] to July 23, 2016. The series, which features Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, Common, and Dominique McElligott, chronicles the Union Pacific Railroad and its laborers, mercenaries, prostitutes, surveyors, and others who lived, worked, and died in the mobile encampment, called "Hell on Wheels", that followed the railhead west across the Great Plains.

In particular, the story focuses on Cullen Bohannon (Mount), a former Confederate soldier who initially joins the railroad to track down Union soldiers who murdered his wife and young son during the American Civil War. In the process he becomes a foreman and eventually chief engineer on the railroad.

The series was created and produced by Joe and Tony Gayton, and developed by Endemol USA, under the stewardship of senior vice-president of scripted programming Jeremy Gold, and it is produced by Entertainment One and Nomadic Pictures.^[2] In 2012, AMC announced creators Joe and Tony Gayton were no longer involved in the day-to-day production of the series.^[3] On December 12, 2012, AMC announced that writer John Wirth would take over as showrunner for the third season.

Season one (2011–12) began in 1865, shortly after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Season two (2012) covered 1866, seasons three (2013) and four (2014) opened in 1867, and season five (2015–16) carried the series into 1869.